While this family history is primarily about Althear and Ruben Matthew Clark and their family, it was not my intention to slight anyone. In some cases more material was available than in others. Most of the information on the later generation was gathered between 1970 and 1974. No attempt has been made to keep the information current once it was obtained.
I wish to thank the many people who spent many hours in supplying the information on the various branches of the Clark Family. Without your help it would not have been possible to write the history.
I am deeply indebted to Maud Lunt and Orpha Ream. Maud helped me so much with the human interest part of the history. Most of this would have been lost if she had not worked real hard to get it to me before her eyesight failed. I regret that she did not live to see the finished product. Orpha has spent a great deal of time searching records for information on Nathan Clark and his wife, Sarah Gifford. The trail into the past of our Clark Family seems to end with their marriage except for their birth dates.
Many of the names and facts on the early generations were obtained from the John Clark Bible. This Bible is 9 by 11 inches and leather bound. It is covered with a home made velvet cover with the words "The Old Family Bible". It was published in 1844 by H and E Phinney in Cooperstown, New York. On the inside cover is a pencil notation that indicates that as of January 28, 1875 the Bible had been read 105 times.
Althear and Ruben Matthew Clark would fall into the real pioneer class. It took a great deal of determination to leave friends, relatives and old home ties to come west to Kansas during the settlement era. Too much credit cannot be given to these pioneers who lived a life of hardship after arriving in the state.
I hope you enjoy reading about the Althear and Ruben Matthew Clark Family.
Calvin Hobson Hardy, Nebraska 68943
.People simply adopted the names of their occupations as their surnames. The name Clark is of this occupational class of names. An interesting sidelight, as W. O. Hassall points out, in his HISTORY THROUGH SURNAMES, is that this is still being done (some Indians have only. acquired surnames in the twentieth century).
Clark is derived from clerk, which is derived from the Latin word clericus, meaning a priest, or someone connected with the activities of the church; its meaning was later widened to include anyone who was able to read and write. In an illiterate age, the skills of the "clark" were in great demand and one who could make and decipher mysterious marks on paper commanded considerable respect from his contemporaries. Some clarks were highly intelligent individuals, secretaries to great and influential men, who managed their affairs for them. Others possessed little knowledge beyond the rudiments of reading and writing. But whatever their station, clarks stood for knowledge in the world which was fast realizing the need for order and civilization.
Clark (and Clarke—the final "e" merely a variation In spelling, having no significance) is one of the ten most common English names. It is universally distributed throughout all of England, and a large part of Scotland as well. Because of the evolutionary nature of name development, it is virtually impossible to pinpoint the exact date of the formation of a new name. Clark, of course, is no different. However, some of the ancient records of the English nation, including the famous HUNDRED ROLLS, gives evidence of early forms of the name and shows usage as early as 1273.
An examination of early American records shows that the name Clark was the sixth most common name in use at the end of. the eighteenth century. By 1964 a computer study by the Social Security rolls of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, revealed that the name ranked eighteenth.
This information taken from the book THE CLARK FAMILY by American Genealogical Research Institute, Library of Congress.